Chunauti 2018 Helps 70% of the Delhi Students to read Better

Over 70 per cent children from Delhi got better reading skills than before, according to the feedback to a state government's children program. 'Chunauti 2018' was an initiative by Delhi government to improve the reading ability in Delhi government school students.

"Teachers started assessment last week and the results have started to come in. From the feedback we have received so far, it seems that more than 70 per cent of the children can read and comprehend what is written in their books," an official said.

Schools were given a deadline to submit the data by Monday with a plan to release the final figures subdequently. Teachers will also be assessed late this week, based on the feedback received from the initiative.

Chunauti 2018 was started in August after a government survey showed that 76 per cent of children between classes VI and VIII could not read text from their own books.

Students were seggregated based on their level of reading skill as readers and non-readers with the survey findings. In order to develop reading habit, regular reading sessions were held for non-readers.

The program ended on children's day (November 14) and the final results of what it was able to achieve are expected by the end of the month. Students of the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) will conduct the third party assessment.

Department of Education sent sent a circular to schools that two students from DIET will visit each school and conduct a re-assessment of at least 10 per cent of students in classes VI to VIII.

DIET students will then fill an online assessment of students, which will be matched with data provided by school teachers. External assessment of schools where variance between the school teachers' assessment and the DIET students' assessment is more than five per cent will also be conducted.